From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Smotrich doubles down on saying he would tell his daughter not to serve in IDF
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich defends his comment that he would tell his daughter not to serve in the IDF, stating in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee that he does not believe that “anyone can or should preach” to religious Zionists about serving their country.
“What can we do? The position of our rabbis and the Chief Rabbinate is that girls should not serve in the army. They do National Service, they take responsibility, and therefore I hope I succeed in educating my children,” he says. “I will strive to educate my daughter to contribute to the people of Israel from her first day until her last, until 120. Not in army service, but in other places: in National Service and then in many, many other things one can contribute to the State of Israel.”
“At least respect a tradition of thousands of years, even if you don’t live by it yet,” he says, stating that the Biblical prophets said that everyone will eventually become religious.
“Those who carry the flag of liberalism” are “totalitarians,” he claims, who “won’t respect your value system or mine. Only theirs.”
The issue of religious women serving in the IDF is a divisive one in the national religious community, where many instead undertake national service instead of being drafted like their secular counterparts, although it is increasingly common for female graduates of religious high schools to enlist. Many major religious Zionist rabbis have spoken out against women serving in the IDF, arguing that it is not modest or appropriate.
The Times of Israel Community.